GIBRALTAR ISLAND — When a predator shows up near a campsite in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, it can be a completely natural and unforgettable wildlife experience. But it can just as easily be a sign of habituation, and that can be bad for humans and animals alike.

Wolves, cougars and black bears are found throughout the park, and suspicious encounters often demand a followup investigation.

On a sunny afternoon, The Vancouver Sun accompanied human-wildlife conflict specialist Todd Windle and resource management officer David Redpath on a 30-minute ride from Ucluelet to Gibraltar Island in the Broken Group Islands to check on a report of a wolf at a kayakers’ campsite.

According to the report, the kayakers were sitting around their campfire one evening when they spotted the wolf on the beach, but it wasn’t looking for handouts. The next morning, the kayakers were taking down the tarp over their kitchen area when the wolf reappeared just 10 metres away. A large male member of the kayak party eventually shooed the animal way.

Wolves are known to routinely swim from island to island in the Broken Group, preying on black-tailed deer as well as river otters, raccoons, mink, harbour seals and occasionally the washed-up carcasses of sea lions. “I’ve watched them flipping over significant boulders to eat the shore crabs and gunnels (a small fish),” Windle said.

He has also observed a wolf swim 1.3 kilometres across Coaster Channel — a cold waterway, beset with currents — before coming ashore and collapsing in the sun for two hours.

Wolf attacks on humans are extremely rare — but do happen.

A man was severely bitten by a wolf in 2000 while sleeping outdoors in his sleeping bag on Vargas Island in Clayoquot Sound, north of Tofino. He received more than 50 stitches to his scalp. Two young wolves that had a history of being fed by humans were killed.

Windle was also working in Cape Breton National Park in Nova Scotia in 2009 when two coyotes attacked and killed Toronto singer-songwriter Taylor Mitchell during a break in her Maritimes music tour.

Back at Gibraltar Island, Windle and Redpath anchor their inflatable craft and walk up to Rod McDowell, of Surrey, and Shawna McDowell of Langley, a father and daughter who are out on a four-night paddle in their stylish red-cedar kayaks. “We haven’t seen anything,” she says. “But we were told to keep an eye open and not to keep food in our tent.”

Windle looks at the kayakers’ cooler and remarks: “If you go out for a short paddle, you don’t want to leave that out. A wolf can get the top off that.”

They scour the beach for fresh wolf tracks, but only find a bleached-out bone from a deer.

Then they walk five minutes into the forest to investigate a trail camera installed about a metre up the trunk of a western hemlock to monitor for wolf activity. It shows none, indicating that the wolf has either moved to another island or set up shop elsewhere on Gibraltar.

For the moment, Windle doesn’t suspect the wolf is associating humans with food. “But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”

Just as the visit is wrapping up, he receives an email message from his office of yet another human-predator interaction — this time with a cougar on the West Coast Trail. A couple were sitting around their campfire when the big cat came out from the boulders and looked at them. A total of five hikers worked together to yell at the predator and chase it off into the forest — exactly what park staff want to see.

Cougars have proven to be a dangerous predators both inside and outside the park.

In 2013, a 60-year-old woman at Flores Island in Clayoquot Sound had her skull crushed by a cougar but survived. The animal was speared to death.

In 2012, a seven-year-old boy was attacked at Sprout Lake near Port Alberni, receiving serious injuries to his head and shoulder. The cougar was shot.

In 2011, an 18-month-old boy received head injuries in an attack at Kennedy Lake, within the national park. The cougar escaped.

Windle had his own encounter in 2011 when, with the help of a dog team, he tracked a cougar stalking a man inside the park. The search reached an unsettling conclusion outside the park at Cox Bay, near Tofino. “I shot that one off someone’s back porch while it was eating his house cat.”

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.